SOUTH Manchester's hospital trust has been stripped of its star rating following a report which named and shamed health bosses involved in the ongoing waiting list scandal.

The investigation, by Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority, discovered the practice of fixing the end of month figures could have started as early as 1997 and a number of senior executives knew about it.

It concluded the two most senior managers at one of Manchester's biggest NHS Trusts authorised the fiddling of waiting list figures during five years of cheating and deception.

Jane Herbert, former chief executive of South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust (SMUHT), and her deputy Chris Povah have been singled out in a report which chronicles when and how the public were misled.

Herbert, having seen the report, has resigned from her new post as head of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire strategic health authority.

Povah has been suspended from his current position as chief executive of East Cheshire NHS Trust.

The report called the waiting list fiddling: "An attempt by the Trust to win on both the swings and the roundabouts" and South Manchester University Hospitals Trust has now gone down to zero stars in the government's system of rating the UK's hospitals.

The report discovered the then chief executive of South Manchester University Hospitals Trust, Jane Herbert, discovered what was happening but failed to notify the board of directors, and was prepared to allow the practice to continue.

Ms Herbert admitted 'she had made a serious mistake in judgement in not telling the board once she was informed of the long-standing adjustment to waiting list numbers, for which she was accountable.'

And Chris Povah, the Trust's Director of Strategy and Development was also party to the fudging of waiting list numbers. Investigators also believe former director of finance Andrew Whitley knew the figures were being massaged.

Mr Whitley resigned last September after he was suspended following the discovery of the false figures - exclusively revealed by the Reporter.

The report stated: "While he has not admitted any direct involvement in the adjustment process, there is sufficient evidence to confirm that he was aware that something was going on and failed to intervene."

Neil Goodwin, head of GMSHA, said: "It is very unlikely that these people will ever be employed by the NHS again."

The report concluded: "This behaviour cannot be condoned within the NHS and goes against the Codes of Conduct and Accountability laid down for boards."

A spokesperson for south Manchester's health watchdog, the Community Health Council, said: "The CHC are not surprised that the Trust has lost their one star rating. We hope that the new management team can recover this loss when the next figures from the Commission for Health Improvement are published.

"We are seeking assurance from the Trust that they will restore people's confidence in the NHS."

Peter Morris, current chief executive of SMUHT said: "Whilst we have established that no patients established adverse clinical outcomes as a result of what happened I would like to acknowledge the additional pain, suffering and anxiety that these patients were subjected to," he said.

"The report doesn't suggest a wide-spread conspiracy within the management, it indicates that it's a small number of people that did the wrong thing.

"I and my colleagues are very confident that we will regain our star rating later in the year."